Attorney’s Fees And Homeowner Claims Against Insurance Companies

Lawsuits by homeowners against their own insurance companies for failing to pay on damage claims that homeowners believe and argue are covered by their policies of insurance are quite common in Florida. Frequently these involve claims for water-related damages—a typical example being a slow leak from piping in a kitchen or bathroom sink that is unknown to the homeowner but that occurs over an extended period of time and that ultimately causes damage to adjoining cabinets or perhaps even flooring. As a plumber who came to inspect such damage in my own house once remarked, when I asked him what all this meant, “Water has to go somewhere.”

A homeowner’s insurance policy is, in its most basic form, a contract of insurance. Each party to any contract has certain rights, duties and obligations under the contract. If a party breaches his or her contractual obligations, the other party may have a claim for damages. Under these circumstances, while other claims may exist, the homeowner’s primary claim against her own insurance carrier, resulting from the carrier’s refusal or failure to pay for damages that the homeowner maintains are covered by her insurance policy, is a claim for breach of contract.

From a homeowner’s perspective, one of the advantages that perhaps minimizes the risk of a lawsuit against her own insurance company is the one-way attorney’s fee provision set forth in Florida Statutes Sec. 627.428. Subsection (1) of this statute provides:

Upon the rendition of a judgment or decree by any of the courts of this state against an insurer and in favor of any named or omnibus insured or the named beneficiary under a policy or contract executed by the insurer, the trial court or, in the event of an appeal in which the insured or beneficiary prevails, the appellate court shall adjudge or decree against the insurer and in favor of the insured or beneficiary a reasonable sum as fees or compensation for the insured’s or beneficiary’s attorney prosecuting the suit in which the recovery is had.

Thus, if a homeowner sues her insurance company for failing to pay for a loss that the homeowner feels is covered by her policy and wins that lawsuit, she will be awarded her reasonable attorney’s fees. If, however, the homeowner loses that lawsuit, she will not be required to pay the company’s attorney’s fees. That is why Florida Statutes Sec. 627.428 is a one-way attorney’s fee statute.

If attorney’s fees are awarded, those fees become part of the actual judgment under subsection (3) of Florida Statutes Sec. 627.428. In addition, if an appeal is filed and the homeowner prevails in that appeal, the attorney’s fees associated with the appeal are recoverable.